Your search for cool-girl summer shoes ends here. GANNI is releasing a sneaker in collaboration with New Balance that’s made for running — or jumping, or sprinting, or, inexplicably, competing in baguette relays — around town.

I’m not a Scandinavian girl myself, and I’ve never been to Copenhagen (ever!), but there’s something fascinating about the city’s orbital attraction that draws all pastel gelato stops ; bleached blonde highlights; trapeze dresses, worn Man Repeller style — with dad shoes.

GANNI, headquartered in Copenhagen, is the Mecca of carefree, it-shouldn’t-work-but-it-really-does Scandinavian dressing that has made past sartorial pariahs like New Balance’s daddy sneaks Good Again. Like what Phoebe Philo did for the Stan Smiths; what legions of festival-goers have done for bucket hats; what time has done to looser denim fits. The alchemical gesture of turning evil into good, of turning the left into cool is a kind of superpower.

Said to be “inspired by the everyday athleticism of modern urban life”, the GANNI x New Balance sneaker focuses on the NB 2002R style, but updates it in typical GANNI fashion. Bright colors (see: Island Green), pretty details (see: the double heart-shaped zippers), and very beautiful prints.

GANNI x New Balance 2002R:

“I’m a huge New Balance fan, I’ve worn them forever,” GANNI Creative Director Ditte Reffstrup said in a statement about the collaboration. “The NB 2002R style really fits into the way of dressing in Copenhagen — we’re always out cycling and running somewhere. This shoe is the perfect blend of function and fashion. It’s a huge honor to put a GANNI touch on such an iconic New Balance shoe and we’re thrilled to be able to create it with so much innovation and recycled materials.

“Innovation” as dictated by Reffstrip calls for the collaboration sneaker to adhere to New Balance’s new “Green Leaf Standard,” which calls for footwear made from at least 50% or more environmentally friendly materials on the upper, and at least one eco-preferred ingredient in the sole. The GANNI x NB 2002R sneaker, made with 80% recycled content synthetic overlays, 100% recycled content mesh and a 5% regrind rubber outsole, hits the mark on all counts, including own standards GANNI’s strict ethics that saw 92% of their Spring/Summer 2022 Collection made from certified organic, recycled and proven low impact materials.

Released in creamy white and gray, this GANNI x New Balance collaboration is ripe for whatever prancing, frolicking and frolicking that might be in the works this coming summer. And if you need inspiration, look no further than the campaign images, which show models truly embracing that “everyday athleticism” brief by doing all sorts of athletic feats – bouncing on a mattress, straddling shoulders, baton relays – wearing, of course, the sneakers in question.

Keep scrolling for the GANNI x New Balance campaign

The GANNI x New Balance 2002R sneaker, priced at HK$1,299, will launch on April 15. Get them here.